Our Lady of Lourdes, St. James Town, May 11, 2014. Image by Olena Sullivan.
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Original JPG File2700 × 4057 pixels (10.95 MP) 22.9 cm × 34.3 cm @ 300 PPI |
3.6 MB | Restricted |
Low resolution print1331 × 2000 pixels (2.66 MP) 11.3 cm × 16.9 cm @ 300 PPI |
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Screen532 × 800 pixels (0.43 MP) 4.5 cm × 6.8 cm @ 300 PPI |
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Resource ID
7122
Access
Open
Credit Line
Image by Olena Sullivan
Date of Creation
11 May 2014
Keywords
immigrant history, religion, faith
Program Category
Tours
Rights
Olena Sullivan
Caption
Our Lady of Lourdes, St. James Town, May 11, 2014. Image by Olena Sullivan.
Description
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church was built as a gift from the clergy to John Joseph Lynch, the first Roman Catholic Archbishop of Toronto, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his consecration. The church was dedicated on October 28, 1886. The surrounding lands, known as St. John's Grove, had been the site of the Archbishop's summer residence and contained a grotto honouring Our Lady of Lourdes since 1876. Parts of that residence are still in use as the Church Hall.
The original building, modeled after Santa Maria del Populo in Rome, was designed by Frederick Charles Law, who was the Private Secretary to John Crawford, the Lieut. Governor of Ontario, and continued to work as Secretary to three successive holders of that office.
Beginning in the 60s, Our Lady of Lourdes became a centre of the Filipino community. Here, Filipino women found work at the nearby Wellesley Hospital (since closed and demolished), housing in the new apartment buildings, and a centre of faith and community at Our Lady of Lourdes. In this church, some of Toronto's earliest Filipino organizations were formed, such as Circulo Ilongo, Filipino-Parents Association, and Silayan Community Centre.